If you're like me, you do some of your own home repairs, not only for fun and to stretch those creative muscles of yours but also to save money.

Have you ever walked into a building supply store and asked for one batt of insulation? (I still have most of a bundle hanging from an upper corner of my shed if anyone needs a few pieces.)

Or maybe you need some wood scraps to build a planter. Of course, your lumber yard may have a scrap bin you can paw through, but on the whole, I've found dumpster diving much more profitable for small jobs.

For example, we recently had a new roof put on our carport. One section of sheathing, about two square feet, was damaged and needed to be replaced. That is sold in 32 square foot sections, 4 X 8 foot sheets, like plywood and sheet rock. Besides, it was the weekend and all the supply stores were closed.

Even though construction here is much slower than it was two years ago, the second site we stopped at looked promising. The dumpster was small, as the home was almost complete. But that meant most everything lying around would be considered trash by the workers cleaning up. I found a piece of sheathing that looked particularly scrappy, and in my broken Spanish asked a worker if I could have it. Actually, what I think I said is "I love it." He nodded and wished me God's blessings and pronounced about four other English phrases.

At another site, we found leftover metal that will make much better flashing for our beams than the grade usually sold for that. Since we need only two small pieces, we're not going to fall for buying a 50-foot roll like we did the last time we repaired a beam. I've already made and installed one and it looks awesome!

Previously we've found multiple 2 X 4's, wire mesh for stucco repairs, blocks of insulating foam, and roof backing. When I've needed something specific, such as liner for around the window we had to replace, I walked down the street to where similar work was being done. Instead of giving me the yard I asked for, the guys gave me the whole roll with instructions of where to return what was left over.

I met a man who finished out his entire rec room with cupboards and cabinets from the waste thrown in his own dumpster while his home was being built. Beautiful work.

I'm not poor. Maybe I'm a bit cheap. You cannot get rich only by being thrifty, but neither do most rich people become that way by paying full price for full lots of material when they need just a handful. Oh, that reminds me. I needed granules for the new torchdown roof — about a double handful. Yet, the roofing company rep gave me a look that could have made a weaker person cower and buy an 85 pound sack of it. But when we walked together to the yard, I saw she had two broken bags. I asked her what she was going to do with them. Suddenly, putting a couple double handfuls in my little piece of cardboard seemed easy (and we had granules leftover from our job — need some?).

Wear boots. Wear gloves. If you're shorter than the height of most dumpsters, take a friend along or a step ladder. Be careful when stepping inside one - vicious, dangerous sharp edges lurk below pristine pieces of plywood and 2 X 6's. Also, don't take anything that is not IN the dumpster without asking, unless it is positively irrefutable that it is piled beside an overflowing dumpster awaiting its turn.

You'll get as much of a kick out of saving a few bucks as you will out of pouring the strength of your own hands into your home. There's more than one way to revolt against what it normally costs to buy and maintain a home!